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Starting as a small community church in 1874, Vienna Presbyterian Church has grown immensely over the last 146 years to become an influential part of its Washington, DC, suburb with more than 1,200 people in attendance each week.
“Vienna Presbyterian Church has been a place for me and my family to grow, to learn more about God, and to connect,” says Shelia Murphy, a church member and volunteer.
With a vision to become like Christ together for the world, Vienna Presbyterian has created multiple ministries and events to help their members and visitors move forward in their discipleship and connect with their faith and each other.
“There are a couple of things that we do here that are really phenomenal,” says Phil Covell, a church member and small group leader. “There is the ‘Growing Your Soul’ curriculum and secondly the Great Banquet that we host. That has been a transforming ministry for many, many people in northern Virginia.”
But with hundreds of members and visitors in attendance each week and dozens of events and ministries happening throughout the year, Vienna Presbyterian needed a single solution that would help them connect and move forward as a faith family.
Vienna Presbyterian made the decision to move to Realm in November of 2016 after looking for a church management software that would allow them to better manage their database, as well as integrate giving and paid registration events.
“When we learned that we could do everything we were looking for in Realm and that it would be a simple conversion, it is probably the best decision we ever made,” says Melissa Jensen, the Digital Integration Manager who spearheaded the conversion process for Vienna Presbyterian. “We have seen our online giving double; we have also seen our scheduled gifts increase by about 15 percent. And the communication feature has been phenomenal.”
With tools for integrated giving, churchwide and small group communication, and event and database management, Realm has altered the way Vienna Presbyterian connects and interacts with attendees and has changed the way they do discipleship.
“Realm has strengthened our community here at Vienna Presbyterian,” says Chuck Allen, a church elder. “Without it, we wouldn’t have the unifying, all-important communications among all the different groups that make up a church body. Our vision statement is, ‘Becoming like Christ together for the world,’ and I actually see that Realm has added to all three aspects of that mission statement.”
